


Uncorrupted

by Ifthenunless



Series: The Prefix "Un" [1]
Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:42:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25431811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ifthenunless/pseuds/Ifthenunless
Summary: It's just a change in eye color, that's all.Right?
Series: The Prefix "Un" [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1842067
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	Uncorrupted

"I thought you'd like to know that I caught your friend. He was going to break you out, was he? Too bad he's dead now."

Chell sneered, lifting her portal gun just a little higher. She'd been riding on the hope that Wheatley would somehow, someway, bust her out of testing, but... that hope was gone now. Poor guy. The braces of her long fall boots clicked against unportalable black tiles as she searched for a place to put her hard light bridge. She placed it above the pit, pushed the button to let the cube fall, and walked through her blue portal to go retrieve it. But before she could even reach the pit, the whole chamber went dark and her bridge gave out, letting her fall to the ground.

She landed hard yet gracefully, as always, barely even feeling the shock in her legs. She glanced around in mild shock.

"What? What's going on? Who turned out the lights?" Seemed GLaDOS was just as confused as she was. across the chamber, a panel opened. "Stay put while I figure out what caused this."  
This was... an obvious trap. But then again…

Suddenly, a flicker of movement was visible from beyond the panel. For a split second, a fleeting, hopeful second, she though that somehow, someway, the little robot had somehow managed to survive GLaDOS's uncaring wrath for a second time. But no, the eye wasn't the same. Rather than Wheatley's blue sunburst, it was a pink-purple ring, in the center a pinwheel of dashes. He moved his lower handle in a way that looked like he was beckoning her over.  
She cautiously approached the silent sphere, expecting the floor to drop under her feet at any time, but it stayed put. She stayed put. She let out a silent breath of relief. She stepped onto the catwalk hidden behind the panel, and looked at the robot expectantly.

"I understand that I'm not... who you expected. Unfortunately," He trailed off, beginning to slide down the rail, waiting for her to follow. "--This is not one of the many times She is lying. PC-002-JSW-02 was found out and crushed. For the second time." He seemed sad for a moment, before taking a deep, simulated breath and continuing on, still rolling steadily. "002 was... very dear to us. I'm quite upset that he passed, but... these things happen, I suppose. But then again, so does revenge."

He tilted his faceplate side to side, as if he was deep in thought. “I supposed most sentient beings are motivated by such, hmm? Anger? Revenge? Fear? Well, it matters not at th--An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain--” His voice became tinny and strained, faceplate darting and eye contracting wildly. A moment after, he shook himself off, like a dog after rolling in a puddle. “Apologies. As I was saying, it matters not what motivates us right now. What matters is getting out of this sector.”

She stopped, pondering for a moment.

"Hm? Is something wrong?" She shook her head after a moment and slowly raised her hands. These robots would not hear her voice. But they would not take it either.

_'Why are you helping me?'_ She signed, simply. The robot didn't even blink at her choice of communication.

"Because I hate the central core as much as you do," He answered. “Like I said before, most sentient beings are motivated by--Ah, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

_'You can read sign?'_

"Yes. I was programmed with many languages." He seemed proud of himself. Chell pondered for a moment.

_'Weren't cores designed to slow down G-L-A-D-O-S?'_ she spelled out the name letter by letter.

"...Not all. I, for example, was an archivist before--ERROR--R-R-RATS CANNOT THROW UP." His voice became stilted and tinny, rattling off the last sentence. He shook from side to side, clearing his head. "Apologies. Again. Before, well... you saw what just happened. I... well. You know the scientists. And how they treat their subjects. Corruption is a tool they used to keep us in check. I was... one of the unfortunate objects of their power." He sighed, turning to continue on. "I can assure you, though, A full corruption will not be happening."

They continued walking for several minutes before the robot suddenly stopped.

"Oh! Where are my manners? I am the Fact Core, ID PC-008-CLW-02, but you may call me Craig. Just... a preference." She nodded.

_'C-H-E-L-L,'_ She signed after a moment of consideration.

"Chell? Nice to meet you."

A few more minutes passed, the quiet hum of Craig sliding along the rail comforting to her stressed mind. She clapped to gain his attention.

"Hm?"

_'Where are we going?'_

"Ah. We're going to travel the catwalks a little longer, then go through the offices to one of the old surface exits. It... Aperture is massive. It could take hours or days depending on if I can find shortcuts or not."

She nodded in understanding, letting Craig return to his quiet muttering. It was almost bittersweet, his constant rambling. She just wished poor little Wheatley didn't have to die.

\--------

"There's a gap in the management rail up ahead. You'll be able to portal across, but you'll need to take me with you." She nodded, a curt, understanding thing, just a tiny bit happy for even a little change of pace.

In the past few hours, she'd become tired, showing that GLaDOS had cut off the supply of adrenal vapor. Her weeks of no sleep had begun to catch up with her. Craig had waited patiently whenever she had to stop to take a break. He wasn't so bad, Chell thought to herself. Maybe it was just GLaDOS who was a homicidal robot.

Unlikely, considering Aperture's tendencies, but at least he was alright.

A few minutes ahead, she saw the portal surface Craig had warned her about. She shot her blue portal over the gap, and placed the matching orange one on a panel beside her. She held her arms expectantly, letting Craig drop off his rail, landing safely into them. She quickly stepped through the portal and placed him on the maintenance rail on the other side of the gap, letting him attach with a little click.

He shivered, getting readjusted, then muttered a quick thanks before carrying on. He seemed less than enthused to be detached from his rail, but she payed it no mind.

"Through here," He said, gesturing towards an intersection, turning left into a tall structure with the word OFFICE painted over the doors. "I'll have... less mobility in here. I may need to detach more than once."

She nodded, glancing around the musty room.

"I'll calculate a route through here." His eye dimmed and he drooped slightly. She hoped that was normal. She poked her head into one of the cubicles. It seemed abandoned in a hurry, papers strewn about and the computer's monitor shattered. She took the dusty office chair and spun it, sitting on it backwards with her chin resting on the back.

She spun in lazy circle, closing her eyes.

That is, until Craig audibly twitched. She jumped slightly.

"I--" His voice wavered. "I've called Benny up ahead. He'll be waiting three floors down in block F. No management rails connect the floors, unfortunately."

She tilted her head. _'You can disconnect, can't you?'_

"It's... Not that, sadly."

_'What is it, then?'_ She grew more insistent with every word. He seemed nervous.

"It's--I have--I must--" He paused, staring at the floor blankly.

_'Craig?'_

No response.

She clapped her hands.

No response.

Suddenly, the announcer's familiar voice emitted from somewhere inside the little robot.  
"Warning: Core corruption at 100 percent. Calling nearest retrieval expert. Please stay where you are."

He twitched, hard, shaking from side to side wildly like a wet dog.

_'Craig?'_ she signed again, cautiously. He glanced around the room, eye barely moving, muttering softly like he was in a trance. He didn't seem to notice her. She clapped her hands again, to no avail. His muttering grew slightly louder.

"Twelve. Twelve. Twelve. Twelve. Twelve. Twelve. Twelve. Twelve--"

She patted the side of his hull sadly.

"The square root of rope is string."

She gently coaxed him to disconnect from his rail, catching him in her arms. She searched around the office cubicles, eventually stumbling upon an abandoned jacket. She took him back to the management rail, and set him on the chair in the cubicle closest to it, then wrapped the jacket around him. She hoped he could feel it.

"Honey does not spoil," He rattled off. She patted his hull one last time and slowly backed away. She turned and slowly began her descent down the stairwell.


End file.
